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Live Online Interactive Webinar · 2.0 RACE-Approved CE Hours · Equine

Equine Cardiology Essentials

Equine cardiac findings — murmurs, dysrhythmias, exercise intolerance — turn up routinely on wellness and pre-purchase exams, but separating an incidental finding from one that affects soundness, breeding, or rider safety is where most general practitioners lack a defensible framework. This 2-hour course delivers a structured approach to the equine cardiac examination, the diagnostics that confirm, and the prognostic conversations owners need. Taught by Dr. Sian Durward-Akhurst, BVMS, MS, PhD, DACVIM (LAIM) of the University of Minnesota, whose laboratory directs the largest ongoing research program on equine arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death.

RACE Program #20-1379166 · Provider #50-29055

May30

Saturday, May 30, 2026

11:00 AM CT · 12:00 PM ET · 10:00 AM MT · 9:00 AM PT

Enroll For On Demand ($95)View the agenda

Watch the recording and earn CE credit after a short quiz.

Part of a Bundle

Equine Excellence Series

Advanced equine CE across ophthalmology, cardiology, genetics, and dentistry

$399

6 lectures • 14 CE hrs

View Bundle

Part of a Bundle

Equine Cardiology + Genetics Bundle

Cardiology Essentials + Genetics & Genomics with Dr. Sian Durward-Akhurst, DACVIM (LAIM)

$160

2 lectures • 4 CE hrs

View Bundle

RACE #20-1379166

Provider #50-29055

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Real-time & interactive

100% Unsponsored

No industry funding

Long-Form Content

Board-certified faculty

Agenda · Saturday, May 30, 2026

Two sessions, taught in sequence

Two 1-hour lectures. 2.0 CE hours.

11:00 AM· 1.0 Hour

Cardiac Examination of the Horse

The complete equine cardiac exam in ambulatory and clinic settings. Physical findings including jugular distension and pulsation, mucous membrane assessment, and arterial pulse quality. Auscultation at the three primary points, resting vs. post-exercise, what normal-for-a-horse actually sounds like. ECG acquisition with base-apex leads, P-QRS-T interpretation for the GP, and the rhythm findings that change management. The framework Durward-Akhurst uses to decide when handheld diagnostics are enough vs. when to refer for echocardiography (30 to 35 cm depth probes required in adults) or 24-hour Holter monitoring.

  • Perform a complete equine cardiac physical exam at rest and post-exercise
  • Identify common equine murmurs and arrhythmias by auscultation point and timing
  • Acquire and interpret a baseline equine ECG in field or clinic
  • Decide when findings warrant echocardiography, Holter, or specialist referral

12:00 PM· 1.0 Hour

Important Cardiac Diseases in the Horse

Atrial fibrillation. Epidemiology in poor-performance horses, lone AF vs. AF with structural disease, quinidine sulfate conversion protocols and monitoring, transvenous electrical cardioversion, reversion rates, and recurrence. Valvular regurgitation (mitral and aortic) and how echocardiographic findings shape soundness and breeding decisions. Ventricular arrhythmias in performance horses and their association with sudden cardiac death. Congenital disease. Cardiac biomarkers (cTnI). What the prognosis conversation actually looks like by disease and severity.

  • Recognize the clinical presentations of the equine cardiac diseases that drive decisions
  • Select the right diagnostic next step for a suspected arrhythmia or murmur
  • Describe conversion, management, and surgical options for atrial fibrillation and valvular disease
  • Counsel owners on soundness, breeding, and rider-safety implications
Times shown in CT — CentralLive Q&A and recording access included
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What you take back to practice

Practical Takeaways for Your Practice

The Cardiac Exam Every Equine GP Should Run

Auscultation at the left apex, left base, and right base, with a clear sense of what each point is actually telling you. Post-exercise auscultation for findings that only reveal themselves after work. Baseline ECG acquisition with lead placement that works on a 1200-pound patient. The three findings that separate 'monitor' from 'work up.'

Normal Variant vs. Clinically Relevant

Second-degree AV block that resolves with exercise (physiologic) vs. one that persists (abnormal). Innocent flow murmurs of young fit horses. The exercise arrhythmias that show up in ~50% of racing-fit Thoroughbreds. And the murmur grades (≥3/6 left, ≥4/6 right) that earn an echo referral.

The Cardiac Diseases That Drive Decisions

Atrial fibrillation (pathogenesis, quinidine vs. transvenous electrical cardioversion, reversion rates, reoccurrence). Mitral and aortic valvular regurgitation, including how severity changes soundness and breeding decisions. Ventricular arrhythmias and their association with sudden cardiac death. Congenital disease (VSD, tetralogy). What actually happens at referral and when it changes management.

What to Tell the Owner

Realistic prognostic language for each disease category. The conversations that prevent the $15k workup for a horse that's not going to be rideable either way, and the conversations that catch the structural disease that would have killed a rider.

Course Abstract

Live Online Interactive Webinar • Case-Based • Sponsor-Free

Most equine practitioners can auscult a murmur. Fewer are comfortable telling a client whether it means anything. That confidence gap is the target of this course.

Dr. Durward-Akhurst's 2-hour course gives equine practitioners a defensible way to sort incidental cardiac findings from the ones that change the horse's future. Part one runs the cardiac exam the way she teaches it at UMN: physical, auscultation points and what's actually at each, resting and post-exercise evaluation, and a baseline ECG you can acquire with portable telemetry. Part two is the disease tour: atrial fibrillation (15 to 20% of poor-performance horses vs. 0.4 to 1% of healthy), mitral and aortic regurgitation, ventricular arrhythmias, congenital disease. With the diagnostics that confirm, the treatments that actually move the needle (quinidine conversion protocols, transvenous electrical cardioversion, management of valvular disease), and the prognostic conversations owners deserve before they sink another $20k into a horse.

Included with registration

Everything registered attendees receive

With every registration

Course access

  • ✓Live interactive session with Dr. Sian Durward-Akhurst — 2.0 RACE-approved CE hours
  • ✓Downloadable digital lecture notes (PDF)
  • ✓Recording access per event policy — on-demand CE after the required quiz
  • ✓CE certificate issued after attendance

Registration

Equine Cardiology Essentials

Two hours with Dr. Sian Durward-Akhurst on the cardiac exam and the diseases that decide whether a horse goes back to work, back to breeding, or back to the trailer. Bundle with Equine Genetics & Genomics the same afternoon for 4.0 CE on May 30.

$95

Standard

Saturday, May 30, 2026 · 11:00 AM CT

Enroll For On Demand ($95)

RACE Provider #50-29055 · Program #20-1379166 · Recording access included per event policy

Bundle Offer

Equine Excellence Series

Advanced equine CE across ophthalmology, cardiology, genetics, and dentistry

$399

Full series • 14 CE hours • 6 lectures • 3 specialists

  • 12-month VetOnIt subscription
  • Printed lecture notes shipped
  • Commemorative enamel pin (first 100 enrollees)
View the full series →

Includes this lecture plus 5 others

Bundle Offer

Equine Cardiology + Genetics Bundle

Cardiology Essentials + Genetics & Genomics with Dr. Sian Durward-Akhurst, DACVIM (LAIM)

$160

Full series • 4 CE hours • 2 lectures • 1 specialists

  • Both cardiology + genetics lectures
  • 12-month on-demand access to recordings
  • RACE-approved CE certificates
View the full series →

Includes this lecture plus 1 other

Program Certification

#50-29055

RACE Provider

#20-1379166

RACE Program

2.0 Hours

Interactive CE Credit

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need advanced ECG experience?
No. Dr. Durward-Akhurst teaches from the baseline ECG a GP actually acquires with portable telemetry. Advanced interpretation is flagged where it matters; nothing assumed beyond basic P-QRS-T recognition.
Is this course appropriate for veterinary technicians?
Yes. RACE-approved for both veterinarians and credentialed veterinary technicians.
Will I receive lecture notes?
Yes. Dr. Durward-Akhurst's lecture notes are distributed to registered attendees before the event.
What if I can't attend live?
The recording is available on demand after the event for non-interactive CE. Live attendance earns interactive CE.
Is the content sponsor-free?
Yes. 100% unsponsored. No drug, product, or corporate sponsor has input on content.